[Flasch186]

Alright so I don't know what I've laid out but here goes:

The 12u All Star team (A Team) is completely dysfunctional. The head coach's administrator, who generally has a big heart, is also completely unstable and volatile. We've had numerous explosions surrounding him and his wife about numerous topics including his son who also is unstable and volatile. He's like Babe Ruth (the son is too) in that they're big (the dad is like 6'4" 400#) and the 12 yr old son is BIG as well. The fire is big too.

On mistakes made by anyone the son is chastising the players on the field. On his own strike outs he's slamming helmets and bats and the parents of him simply say he's passionate and wants to win more than others do and in some cases they're right. We have another family on the team who's son is just their to be around friends. That being said they're not toxic like this.

Recently (1 mo ago) the big dad went off on an umpire from the stands and it turned the crowd into a shit show. A set of parents that are nicest people in the world almost pulled their son from the team in saying to the coach "this is not what we signed up for and this is not setting a good example." They stayed but the gauntlet was set and a team meeting was set.

However the timing dragged and then when the meeting happened it was white washed and nothing was ever said directly to the big toxic family. They in turn played their cards right and remained quiet. The big guy (who is actually a nice guy outside of these flaws) is on the phone with the head coach a few nights a week and is able to manipulate and spin and now, a month later, the die has been cast that it's everyone else that might be the problem and not them. Perhaps they need to start from scratch in the fall with 13u.

What they don't admit to is that the team is going to explode at the end of the season anyways. Multiple people have stated quietly to each other that they will not be back in the fall due to this unhealthy environment. It's unfixable at this point with only 4 tournaments to go.

Somehow I have been able to generally play my cards right and dodge the gunfire but my wife has sometimes entered the fray and much to my chagrin she has injected herself into some of the arguments. I have tried to reign her in at night, at home with explanations of ramifications. It's hard though because it's so tense now.

The big guy's wife runs the concessions and is domineering and controlling (even though she means well) and lots of people are rubbed wrong by her and don't want to work concessions with her. My wife goes because she says she can deal with it but it's terrible to watch. They'll literally fight over how many French fries to put in a serving.

So in about a month or so we're all going to Branson Mo for our end of season travel experience tourney and the parents, a few months ago (perhaps 5) chose a big super house to share. About 8 families in all including them and others and now it's looking like it might be something out of the old MTV the Real World show. It's going to be an epic shit show of tension and egg shells and I don't think it'll remain tamped down.

The worst part is the team plays like crap now because there's no comraderies amongst that sector of the team. It's literally like the team has a drop in the petri dish that everyone is running from.

Aiden did finally get close enough to the plate to make contact with the ball again. He went 5 for 6 with a triple all while "stepping out" still but we're in lessons to fix it again and get the fear of getting hit out of his system.